Tavy married Mary Jo in 1952 after 5 years of dating, became a father in 1954 (Bekki) and again in 1955 (Barney) and one last time in 1958 (Morris). When his grandsons started appearing (1988 (Kyle), 1990 (Cody) and 1994 (Quincy), he went from Dad, to Papa.

Besides being a father and grandfather, he raised many dogs. There was never a dog that didn’t love Tavy, or that Tavy didn’t love back.

Tidbits about Octave

• Did you know that Octave was the Eastern United States Boomerang Throwing Champion? He could toss and catch a boomerang fifty-seven times in succession.
• Did you know Tavy was a sailor and could swim like a fish but was afraid of drowning, so he was determined to be able to hold his breath for a long time. His record was a full five minutes and 25 seconds!
• Did you know he was ambidextrous?
• When he was a young teen, he was bored and asked his friends to shave his head. The only other time he was bald was when going through Chemo-therapy for Lymphoma Cancer.
• Did you know that for his honeymoon, Tavy invited his cousin Michel Vacheron to accompany them. He and Michel hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up the other side while Mary Jo drove around to park to meet them.
• He was a magician and could make a penny disappear after saying the words “Jautery, Mautery, Say-ko, Yaundy. He had his own kids completely awed and wouldn’t tell them how to do the trick until they were 12 years old.

You can find out much more by reading the biography Bekki wrote a few years ago. One of Mary Jo’s interests and passions is genealogy. She had researched Tavy’s family back to the 1800’s. If you’d like to view the family tree, click HERE.